Monkey steals cobra from snake charmer at Indian temple

Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A security camera outside an Indian temple captured the moment a wild monkey ran up to a snake charmer and stole his venomous cobra.

The video, filmed Friday outside the Barbanki temple in Vrinadavan, Uttar Pradesh, shows the snake charmer removing his cobra from a basket as the monkey descends the wall of the building behind him.

The primate runs up behind the man, grabs the cobra, and runs back up the wall with the snake.

The man attempts to climb a nearby vendor's cart to chase the monkey, but witnesses said he was unable to retrieve his cobra.

"Monkeys snatch food and things from people frequently. But this is the first time a monkey has snatched a snake probably thinking it was food," said local resident Avatans Kumar, 23, who witnessed the event.